Through Cursed Eyes
by MeLikeyFandoms
Summary: Hannah Noble is an ordinary student in the small town of Storybrooke, Maine. But when her best friend Henry's birth mother comes to town. Small pieces of her mediocre life are chipped away. What will happen to her as the reality of her existence begins to unfold? Rated T for violence.
1. Chapter 1

I guess you're wondering what I was doing in class… alone… with the teacher. Well, it's kind of a long story, but I think I can sum it up in three words: history, sleep, busted. Miss Blanchard looked at me like she was waiting for me to explain myself.

"Well, now that class is over and you're _awake,_ we can have a little talk," she said.

I slumped down in my chair. Here we go.

"I just don't understand why you fell asleep, Hannah. You do so well in every other class."

Miss Blanchard, A.K.A Mary Margaret, looked at me with disappointment. I just knew she had some big punishment she was going to give me. I opened my mouth to speak but she interrupted.

"And please don't bring up your little 'I don't really care if Abraham Lincoln was our first president.'"

I tried to hide the smile that came up on my face. I had made that joke a long time ago and right after realized that Mary Margaret wasn't one for sarcastic comments. I figured I'd better say something if I wanted to walk out alive. Also, it didn't really help that Mary Margaret was giving me a stare that made me want to explode into tiny bacon bits.

"Well, would you look at the time?" I paused, looking at my wrist. "How did it get so late? My friend is expecting me so I better go, bye!"

I sprinted toward the door and was about to make it out when Mary Margaret spoke up. "Hannah, sweetheart, you're not wearing a watch."

I shot back sarcastically. "I'm _not?_"

She glared at me. "No, you're not. I will let you go, but your foster mother will know about this." Great that was the last thing I needed.

I stormed out of the room slamming the door behind me. Henry, a friend of mine, had been waiting for me outside and it made me feel worse.

"Are you okay? It's so unlike you to fall asleep in class like that." Henry said. I shrugged somewhat annoyed that he was talking about it. But who wouldn't? Mary Margaret was helping out a student and she seemed to be taking forever. I closed my eyes for a second and shot awake when Mary Margaret had yelled my name.

"Um, yeah I guess I'm okay, but know I'm gonna get chewed out for it." The truth is I didn't even know if my foster mom Felicity would chew me out. She always seemed so kind, but it probably helped that she found me on the side of the road when I was 2 years old. At least that's what everyone told me. I must have been pretty deep in thought because Henry waved his hand in my face to get my attention.

"Hannah! Are you in there? Snap out of it!" I eventually came back to my senses, but I had absolutely no idea what he was saying to me.

"Okay I think I've got it but just in case… tell me the whole thing again. I wasn't listening." Henry laughed, and I would've told him I was serious but it seemed like he hadn't laughed in forever. "So, Henry, how's your mom?'

"She's fine I guess." He shuffled his feet on the ground. "It's always great to have the evil queen as a mom." He mumbled. Then louder he said, "Can we talk about something else please?"

I wanted to grab him by the shirt and say "No! We can't! You know why? Because I don't have parents!" But I just said "Oh. Sure. What do you want to talk about?"

"Well I thought we could talk about-."

Just then Miss Mills, Henry's mom, walked up to us. I must have been a disappointment to everyone because whenever Miss Mills saw me she would try to smile, but she would still look really depressed or disappointed.

"Hello, Hannah. I just came to get Henry." Wow, she even _sounded_ depressed.

"Since when do you come to pick me up? You don't care about me," snapped Henry.

All the things I wanted to say probably would have gotten me killed. What's with me and getting killed? No idea, But they were all along the lines of "Oh snap!" Miss Mills pulled Henry aside.

"I'll deal with you later" She said. I'm guessing it was supposed to be a whisper, and I wasn't supposed to hear it but it was kind of hard not to hear her.

"Well, I guess I'll be going, Hannah," Henry mumbled.

"Oh, ok. See you later Henry." Miss Mills still looked as depressed as she always was. She maybe looked even worse.

"Do you need a ride, Hannah? Henry and I would be happy to- "

"No that's ok. I usually walk. I'm pretty used to it." I felt really bad about cutting her off like that. We stood there in silence. "It was nice talking to you, Miss Mills." I finally said.

"Yeah, sure, if I'm gonna be tortured might as well get it over with," Henry said with a grimace.

Regina— have I mentioned that Miss Mills' name is Regina? I probably haven't. Oh well now you know. Regina stared at Henry coldly. She grabbed him by the arm and pulled him to her car. I heard a familiar voice coming from behind me.

"Hannah! Why don't you come and help me clean up?" It was Mary Margaret. This was probably supposed to be that punishment. I started walking toward the door. Then I remembered Mary Margaret saying "_Your foster mother will know about this"_ I sighed. This was going to be a long day. "Hannah!" she called again.

"I'm coming! I'm coming!" Mary Margaret is a really sweet person and all, but she was really starting to get on my nerves.


	2. Chapter 2

Walking home from school was even worse than helping Mary Margaret. Maybe I really _was _a disappointment to everyone, and thinking back on it now I probably should have taken Regina's offer.

I finally stepped on the driveway in front of my house. Well I say house but it felt more like a shack. It had faded, wooden walls and small, little windows. When I got inside, I ran to my bedroom hoping Felicity wouldn't notice me. I must have shut the door pretty hard though because off in the distance I hear Felicity calling my name.

"Hannah! Is that you?" she yelled from the kitchen. I had a feeling she knew all about what happened today at school.

"No! Hannah's at school at the moment!" I yelled. Something told me she wouldn't fall for that, but no one got hurt trying.

"Hannah, is something wrong? What happened?" Her voice sounded closer than before. I crawled to the door and put my back up against it.

"No! Don't come in! You can't! I'm busy with… um… stuff!" I yelled even though I was pretty sure she was standing right there.

"Hannah, did something happen at-?" The phone interrupted, and I couldn't be more grateful that we were able to pay our phone bill this month. I slightly opened my door so I could hear what she was saying. Who could be calling us at this time? After seconds of careful consideration, and deep thought I realized it could only be one person.

"Felicity! Don't answer the phone! I'm sure it's not important!" She hung up, and the feeling that she knew just got a lot bigger.

"Hannah, would you please stop yelling? Use your inside voice." she said. The mind boggling thing about her is that she can swell up with anger and not show it. I opened the door and used my "inside voice."

"Don't answer the phone. I'm sure it's not important." I whispered.

"Hannah, is what Miss Blanchard said true?" she inquired. It sounded like she was expecting this ever since she volunteered to take care of me.

"There is a possibility that it is true, but it's probably not." I said

"If it's not true how did you know what I was talking about?" she snapped.

So -to make a long story short- I learned that Felicity _could_ chew me out. I paced back and forth around my room. I knew that she was thinking of a greater punishment than sending me to my room.

After a while, I lay down on my bed listening to the wind.

I probably was a big letdown to everyone, but no one was more upset with me than me. So many people have tried to take care of me and I've run all of their hope to the ground. Maybe their lives would be better if I wasn't a part of them. I could start over with a life where no one cared if I was a failure. The only person whose expectations I would have to live up to would be me.

I was lying there a long time when I realized I couldn't be listening to the wind unless the window was open. _I could start over,_ I thought. _No one would have to care about me._ As I said before the windows were small, but they were just big enough so I could squeeze through.

As soon as I got out, the door to my room started to open, and I ran for it. Now when I say "ran for it" I mean casually walked down the sidewalk. It was a lot harder than I thought it would be. I dove into the bushes whenever I saw someone walking down the street. Who knew bushes had thorns in them? I reached the edge of town and remembered Henry saying bad things happen when someone tries to leave.

"Well here goes nothing" I mumbled to myself. I took a big breath and hopped past the sign that said "Leaving Storybrooke." Nothing.

I was standing there waiting to explode or something. After a while I realized nothing was going to happen. I heard lots of people behind and they were all calling my name. I could recognize Mary Margaret and Felicity but everyone else sounded the same. I ran as soon as I heard them. I ran until my feet started to ache. I stopped to rest and heard somebody, or something, in the woods. It was…

"Henry!" I yelled. He jumped as soon as he heard his name. "What are you doing here?"

"Well…um…I could ask you the same thing, Hannah." He said. I didn't want to tell him, but, if I was gonna trust anyone right then, it would be Henry. We sat there in silence.

"So, were you going to tell me what you're doing here?" I asked.

"Actually I need to get going." he excused himself. He nodded his goodbye and started walking away.

"Henry." I started. He turned around and looked me right in the eye. He was my best friend in the whole world and there was no saying if I would ever see him again.

"What is it?" he asked with his head tilted to the side.

"Nothing. Just nothing. Goodbye."


	3. Chapter 3

I had a really weird dream that night. I was in the middle of nowhere with a girl with long, dark hair and a red cape. I couldn't see her face but somehow she seemed familiar. I followed her out to the chicken house, and, as soon as I stepped in the door, I knew we weren't alone. You see I get this weird feeling in my gut when someone else is nearby. I scanned the room and found the intruder.

"Hey, you!" I yelled, but no one heard me. It was just a dream, but it felt so real. The girl in the cape seemed to realize that someone else was there, as well.

"Hello?" she said. Just then, a girl with a white cape and black hair came out of hiding. I saw her face very clearly and I almost fainted. Can you even faint in a dream? I don't know, but I recognized her as Mary Margaret Blanchard.

"I'm sorry. I can go," she said. I stood there for a moment hoping that Mary Margaret had a twin.

"Are you stealing our eggs?" The girl in the cape asked.

"No!" Mary Margaret's twin replied. She looked down at the two eggs in her hands and stretched her arms so cape girl could take them. "Not a lot." She corrected. She turned around and started to leave.

"Hey! Hey! It's …It's alright," cape girl said

"Thank you. It was just that…um…last night there was something out there. It was howling, and…I heard it… and it was so cold so…

"Hey. Come on. Come with me." She turned around slightly and I almost saw her face but she quickly turned back around. "Everyone calls me Red."

"I'm Sn- Frosty. Mary Margaret's twin said.

"Frosty? Really?" Red asked.

"No, it's just that someone is looking for me so….."

"You don't know or trust me yet." Red finished. Frosty gave red a face that said 'How did you know that?' "Hey I get it I just need something to call you."

"Margaret. Oh no um… Mary." I knew she was Mary Margaret's twin!

"Well then Mary, come on." Red turned around and I finally saw her face. I woke up with a start.

"Ruby!" I yelled. I looked around and noticed I was in the exact same spot I fell asleep. I heaved a sigh of relief. It was still kind of dark so either I slept the whole day or the sun was still rising. Assuming it was still rising I got up and headed on my way.

To be ninety-nine percent honest with you, I didn't really know where that was. I started to rethink the whole running away thing so I turned around to see if they had given up looking for me. I wasn't that far and I'm sure no one really cared that I ran away.

I walked into town and I knew someone was there. I have this weird feeling every time someone is nearby. I would have run away but I was curious who was out there. A yellow car was wrecked over by the leaving Storybrooke sign. Well, where it used to be anyway. The car had taken it out pretty good. I ran over to see if the driver was ok.

There was a woman with long, blond hair and a red, leather jacket unconscious in the driver seat. I tried to wake her up but it was no use. I ran as fast as I could to get help. I reached the sheriff's station in time to get the sheriff.

"Hannah?" He asked with confusion.

"Graham, you have to help! There was a car crash at the edge of town!" He stood up instantly.

"Come on!" he said. We raced through town to the wreck and found the woman lying there in the midst of it all. "Here help me get her out." Graham said. After we got her in the car we headed back to town. "I can't believe you came back. I thought for sure you'd die in one night."

"Is that why you stopped looking for me?" I asked. He Glanced at me then back at the road.

"I didn't _stop_ looking for you I just-"

"Gave up." I finished.

"No it was more like… well… you know like…"

"Don't try. I get it." We rode silently until we reached the prison. He put the woman in a cell and locked her up.

"Whoa whoa whoa!" I said in shock. "why are you locking her up?" He stopped what he was doing and looked at me.

"She's a drunk. That's why she crashed. Now come on. Let's get you home."


	4. Chapter 4

As I walked up to the old, faded house the driveway felt longer than usual. We finally reached the door and Graham was about to knock when I interrupted him.

"Stop. I already know what she's going to say and I don't want to hear it." I said

"So you had the nerve to bring this little brat back here did you?" I mimicked. "Don't bother. She irritates me to death. I'd just love to yank out her long, brown hair and scratch out those horrible, green eyes! Blech!"

"Listen, Hannah. I need to get back to check on Emma-."

"Who's Emma?" I asked.

"She's the woman you found on the side of the road." He walked off leaving me to deal with my own problems. I mean who does that! I thought of turning around and running away again but I knew that wasn't really an option. I walked up to the door and knocked slightly. The figure in the window jumped and ran to the door. When it opened I was drowned in hugs and kisses.

"What did you think you were doing? You nearly gave me a heart attack!" Felicity said. "I mean I knew you were upset but I didn't think you were _that_ upset!" She finally put me down and I got a good look at her face. Her eyes were red and puffy and she was covered in what appeared to be strawberry ice cream.

"Well don't just stand there! Come inside and… and… help me… make breakfast!" She said as she pulled me inside and shut the door. She stopped, turned around, and locked the door. She looked at me then back at the door and double locked it. I rolled my eyes. She pointed to the kitchen. I walked in the kitchen and saw empty strawberry ice cream containers everywhere.

"I was gone for one day, Felicity! One day!" I yelled. She poked her head in the kitchen. I glared at her.

"Don't get mad at me! _You're_ the one who ran away! "

"Is there even any ice cream left? I mean honestly how did you eat all of this in one night?"

"Stop asking questions I don't want to give you the answers to." She sighed. "Just don't ever do that again, okay?" I just stood there waiting for her to leave. "_OKAY?"_ She said through clenched teeth.

"Okay." I said.

After we finished breakfast I asked if I could go over to Henrys house.

"Are you crazy? After what you did you think I'm just gonna let you- who's Henry?" She asked.

"Oh you know just… the mayors kid." I said with a smirk.

"The who in the where with the what now?" she questioned.

"Henry Mills. The mayors kid. Oh well, I'll just go back to my room and-."

"No! I'll take you to the mayor's house." She said with a grin.

When we were in the car Felicity kept looking at me in the mirror.

"So… you and Henry are pretty close, huh?" She asked.

"Yeah, every day after school we… FELICITY!" I scolded. I saw her little game. She wanted all the juicy little tidbits about our "young romance." She was big on "adorable" things like that. For the love of sanity! We were friends! That's it!

"What? I'm just curious. So every day after school you…?"

"Never mind, Felicity. Wait, that's the house right there." I pointed to a white mansion with a red brick path with bushes on either side. The car skidded to a stop.

"_That's_ the house? No way. I'm not dropping you off in there. You could get lost in that huge thing-" She gasped. "Or worse, you could get _lost_!" She put emphasis on the last bit and glared at me, obviously referencing my escapade last night.

"Well if you're afraid of me getting "lost" then I guess we can go home."

"What-?"

"That's right, home. I'll see Henry tomorrow anyway…"

"No! I'm sure you're smart enough to find your way out. Ha! Well bye." She got out of the car and looked worriedly at the house. "On second thought, I wonder if the mayor has a map."

"Felicity…" I complained.

"Alright alright. You're in good hands. I hope."

"I'll be fine Felicity. And I promise I won't run away." We walked up to the house and knocked on the door.

"Oh Felicity I left something in the car I'll be right back."

"Alright, but hurry up, ok?

"Ok. It'll only take a second." I ran to the car and ducked inside.

I was going to see if Regina always looked that depressed. Of course that's none of my business but I just ran away because I fell asleep in history class. Do you really think I'm capable of following rules?

When Regina answered the door she looked pretty happy. I mean that's not a bad thing but it means she was, in fact, disappointed in me. I came out of the car and walked up to the door. Regina's face fell.

"Hello, Hannah. I hear you want to see Henry?" She forced a smile.

"Um, Yeah if that's ok with you." I muttered.

"It's fine. Come in."


	5. Chapter 5

When we were inside I didn't really pay much attention to detail, but all you need to know is that it was huge. So big, in fact, that I stood there in a daze forgetting why I was even there. Felicity started backing toward the door.

"Well I best get going now. Have fun with Henry, Hannah!" She said. I turned to give her one last glare, but she was gone. We stood there awkwardly. Regina spoke up.

"Henry's upstairs. I'll go get him." She quickly went up the stairs like it was a relief not to be with me anymore. I looked around the house until Regina came back down stairs even faster than when she went up.

"Hannah I'm sorry but you need to go. I'm going to call your mother and she'll come pick you up." She ran to the phone. I thought about going upstairs to check on Henry, and that's when it hit me. Henry was running away and Regina just found out. I was about to tell her but she just told me my "mother" would be here soon and left.

As soon as I got home I went to my room. As expected the window was sealed shut. I went back into the living room/music room.

"I'm just going for a walk, Felicity. Is that ok?" I asked.

"Sure just be back by lunch." She replied

"Oki-dokee-Loki." I said. I walked out the door so she wouldn't suspect anything but as soon as I was out the door I started running. I ran to the sheriff's office to go see the woman I found, Emma is what Graham said her name was, but when I got there the place was empty. I stood there a second trying to figure out where to go next.

I went to Regina's house and the door was surprisingly unlocked. I went inside and ran up the stairs. I had only been in Regina's house once before but something was telling me to go up there. I stopped. That weird feeling I get when people are around came back. It was banging around in the back of my head like it was trying to escape. I kept moving until I found the room where it was strongest. I went in the room and jumped when I saw Graham, Regina, and Emma sitting at Henrys computer. They turned toward the door and by the looks of it nearly had a heart attack when they saw me there.

"Hannah, what are you doing here?" Graham asked. I figured I should probably come up with something casual.

"Oh… I'm just… uh… checking on Henry. The way Miss Mills reacted made it seem like he was on the verge of death." I replied. Yep, real casual there.

"Hannah, I thought you were with your mother." Regina said

"Oh. Um.. I went on a walk and started thinking about Henry. And then I remembered that something was wrong so I came here to check on him."

"Let's go find Mary Margaret." Emma said. They all nodded in agreement and went out of the room.

"Can I come too?" I asked. Emma and Regina ignored my question, but Graham stopped and looked at me. I remembered Graham saying I could be his "deputy in training".

"Sure." He said. Regina and Emma were listening now. "You can come along." They just rolled their eyes and kept going.

We got to school just as Mary Margaret finished up her class. We pushed through the stampede of children and Regina started confronting Mary Margaret.

"Where's my son?" She said

"Henry. I assumed he was home sick with you." She replied. I wasn't very comfortable being with Mary Margaret at this moment.

"Would I be here if he was? Did you give him your credit card so he could find her? She nodded to Emma.

"I'm sorry who are you?" Mary Margaret asked in confusion.

"I'm his... I'm his..." She mumbled

"The woman who gave him up for adoption." Regina finished. There was a moment of silence. Mary Margaret started digging in her purse.

"You don't know anything about this do you?" Emma asked.

"No. Unfortunately not." She opened her wallet. The card was missing. "Clever boy. I should never have given him that book."

"What in the world is this book i keep hearing about!" Regina was furious now.

"Just some old stories I gave him. As you well know, Henry is a special boy. So smart. So creative. And as you might be aware, lonely. He needed it.

"What he needs is a dose of reality. This is a waste of time." Regina purposely knocked over a pile of books. I had never seen Regina like that before. And frankly it was kind of creeping me out. But on the other hand it was kind of cool. She left saying "Enjoy your trip back to Boston."


	6. Chapter 6

I felt like the flash as I raced down the sidewalk trying to get home on time. I ran and ran until I finally reached home. I looked down at the watch I grabbed before I left. It was 11:59. Then at exactly 12:00 Felicity burst out the door.

"Hannah Lynn Noble!" She scolded. She used my middle name because she knows I hate it when she does that. Well, I don't _hate_ it when she does that. It's just that that's not my real middle name. "You said you'd be back by lunch!" Had she been waiting there the whole time I was gone?

"Yeah, its lunch time, and I'm back." I pointed out.

"But you're not _inside_." She explained. "And look at you! You're a mess!" I looked down at my clothes. They were covered in mud, dirt, leaves, and twigs. I regretted taking that shortcut through the woods. I walked over to the open door and stepped inside.

"Happy?" I asked as I rolled my eyes.

"Hannah, don't track mud through the house!" She ran up to me and took me around the house and into the backyard. "There, now spray yourself off with the hose and come in through the _back_ door. I'll unlock it for you." She turned on the water and went inside. Everything was quiet except for the running of the water. I picked up the hose, sprayed myself off, and went inside.

I followed the path of towels Felicity put down. When I got to my room I knew exactly what I wanted to wear. I ran up to my closet and took out a black shirt with a sparkly unicorn print on it. I slipped that on and put on a pair of jeans. I liked to think of that as my signature outfit. After that I went into the kitchen. There was a plate full of pizza rolls and celery sitting on the table. Felicity was probably in the laundry room taking care of my wet clothes. I sat down at the table and poked at the celery. The sound of the washer started. Felicity walked into the kitchen.

"Hannah, I'm going to the store. Do you need anything?" She said.

"My own car." I replied simply.

"A. You're not old enough to drive. B. I said do you _need_ anything." She walked up to me. "Hannah, I know you don't like celery, but you need to eat something healthy for you too." She gave me a kiss and left. I ate the pizza rolls and sat there staring at the celery. _You need to eat something healthy for you too._ I thought about that for a second. I ran to the fridge and pulled out an apple. Apples are healthy for you.

I walked around the house with nothing to do but chew on my apple. I considered leaving to try and find Henry. I tried to push the thought away, but it stayed in my mind. It nagged me every now and then, but I would drown it out with cartoons. That technique worked for a cartoon or so, but then this annoying show came on. What I picked up from the theme song was that it's about a yellow sponge that lives in a pineapple under the sea. I turned off the TV, went outside and the thought of finding Henry took over.

I walked down the street, thinking of where he might be. I looked up to see where I had walked to. I was standing in front a small, wooden, playground shaped like a castle. I then remembered that my house wasn't far away from Henry's castle. Henry was sitting at the edge of his castle. I was so relieved to know he was okay. When I sat down next to him he didn't seem to notice me.

"Hi, Henry." I said. He jumped and looked my way.

"Hi… what are you doing here? Don't you have school?" He replied still trying to get over the shock.

"I'm pretty sure you have school too." I smirked. "No I don't. Felicity wants me to stay home today. I have school tomorrow. He looked down at his feet. "Hey." I said as I bumped him with my shoulder. He smiled and looked up. "What's up?"

"Oh… well… I sort of found my birth mom-" He explained.

"Henry, that's great!" I cut in. "I mean, I would give anything to find mine." He just looked at me like I was a confusing puzzle.

"Hannah, you know how everyone here is a fairy tale character?" He asked. I tried to hide the concern in my eyes. Henry believed that everyone in Storybrooke was a fairy tale character under a curse placed by an Evil Queen. I decided to go along with it.

"Yeah, why?"

"Well… I haven't figured out who you are yet. Don't worry though. I'm working on it." He assured me. We both just looked off into the distance for a while.

"Oh, I gotta go, Henry." I got down and started walking toward my house.

"See you tomorrow!" He called. I turned, smiled, and walked home.


	7. Chapter 7

The next morning I woke up to Felicity yanking my blankets off and yelling "You're gonna be late!" At first, I had no idea what she was talking about. Then I remembered I have school. I got out of bed and ran to the kitchen. A bowl of Lucky Charms was sitting on the table. I scarfed down the food and ran upstairs to get dressed. I put on a simple white t-shirt and black jeans. I stuffed my backpack with: books, homework, pencils, pens, and a couple of candy bars for history class. I raced out the door right as the clock struck. I paused. The clock struck? I let the thought slip away and left right as the bus showed up.

Henry wasn't at school when I got there. I was about to look for him at his castle, but the school bell rang. I walked to class still keeping an eye out for Henry. I trudged into the classroom and sat down at my seat. The seat next to me -Henrys seat- was empty. I set my backpack down on the ground and pulled out my homework. I set it on my desk and smoothed it out. I thought about yesterday when I was talking to Henry. He was so cute sitting there and smiling.

"Hannah!" Henry was waving his hand in my face again.

"Oh, Henry, I didn't think you'd be here." I stumbled. He smiled.

"I said I'd see you at school, didn't I?"

"So anyway, what took you so long to get here?" I couldn't stop thinking about yesterday. I remembered him looking at me like I wasn't meant to be there. He shrugged.

"I don't know. Just late, I guess." I looked up Mary Margaret had just walked in the room and started writing on the chalkboard.

"So, Henry, there's this woman I found. Blond hair, leather jacket-"

"Oh, you mean Emma?"

"Yeah, do you know her?"

"Um, sort of, she's my mom." I stared at him. I was about to tell him that she was annoying, but she's his mom. He would never forgive me if I said something like that about her.

"Oh." I turned my gaze to my homework and waited for class to be over.

History was over and I didn't like pretending to use the bathroom to eat my candy bars. Anyway now we were all headed outside for our last class. We all sat down and Mary Margaret started reading to us. I didn't really listen to the story. I just stared off in a distance thinking of nothing.

Then Mary Margaret stood up and walked off. I snapped back to existence and saw her walking up to Regina. Regina called for Henry. When he came back he didn't seem too happy. I was tempted to ask him what she said, but I knew it wasn't my place. After school was over Henry ran up to me.

"Hannah, I found some stones that would be perfect for skipping. Here I thought you might like this one." He held up a black stone with hints of purple surrounding the edges and circling in the middle.

"Thanks, it's awesome." I say as I admire the stone.

"So, let's go." He gestured for me to follow him. _So… you and henry are pretty close huh?_ I heard Felicity say in my mind.

"Um, Henry."

"Yeah?"

"I… I can't skip rocks with you today."

"What? We always skip rocks after school."

"I know but I have other things to do today."

"Is this about Emma?"

"What? No! I'm just saying-"

"You know what? It's ok Regina's expecting me anyway." He put his backpack on. "Goodbye, Hannah."

_Sheesh, all that over a bunch of rocks. He didn't have to get all snooty about it._ I thought as I walked into the woods. I walked to the toll bridge and sat on the edge. I pulled out the rock henry gave me. The purple in the middle seemed to glow and swirl. I thought about magic and how Henry believed everyone was a fairytale character. Then I started thinking out loud.

"Snow White, Prince Charmin.g, Jiminy Cricket, The Evil Queen? It all makes no sense!" My grip on the rock grew tighter. "There's one more. I just can't seem to remember… Oh it's Rumple… Rumples… Rumpleshtiltskin!"

"That's not how you say it, Dearie." And that was the last thing I heard before everything went black.


	8. Chapter 8

"Hannah!" I heard someone calling my name. I felt something grab me. I fought back but cringed in pain. Whatever had grabbed me was yanked back. I listened to the sounds around me. People were calling my name, but I couldn't really hear anything else. It was like being underwater. I heard faint sounds, but nothing I could actually name. I opened my eyes. Everything was blurry. Was this it? Had I actually gone blind? I blinked until everything came into focus. I was in a hospital.

"Hannah!" Felicity fought her way through the nurses and grabbed my hand. "Hannah! Thank goodness you're okay!" The doctors pushed her back. She was probably the something that grabbed me.

"Hannah, can you hear us?" One of the nurses asked. I looked around. I thought I was swarmed but there were only like three people. Doctor Whale ,and two nurses. "Hannah?" She asked again.

"Uh… yeah I… I can hear you." I stuttered. "Why am I here?" I tried to think of what happened to me. I tried to sit up. Bad idea. I yelped and grabbed my side.

"Hannah, don't try to sit up." She made my lay back down.

"Why does my side hurt so much?" She looked at Felicity then walked off. She didn't talk to me until the doctors finished their work and left.

"Hannah, the sheriff is going to ask you a few questions. Is that alright?" She asked.

"Graham's here? Can I talk to him?" I asked. She nodded, signaled for Graham to come, and left.

"Hey, Hannah. How are you feeling?" He asked. I wanted to ask him what had happened to my side, but felicity came running up to me.

"Hannah!" She ran up to my hospital bed and fell on her knees. She squeezed my hand. "Are you ok? You worried me to death!" She kissed my forehead. "Don't wander off into the woods like that ever again!"

I looked around the hospital before I answered. I saw Emma walking toward me. Suddenly rage ran through me waiting to be let out. My eyes narrowed. I hated everyone around me, and I especially hated Emma. I looked at Felicity.

"What's wrong with my side?" I asked. A simple question for the simple minded.

"Well there was a gash in your side," she said almost too calmly. My hands automatically go to my side. "But the Doctors stitched it up. I can see why it would hurt."

"Hannah, can you remember what happened in the woods?" Graham asked me. I had almost forgotten that he was there so the question kind of caught me off guard. I thought for a second.

"Yes." I say slowly. "Yes I… I do." Emma was next to me now. She had her arms crossed and her hair up in a ponytail.

"Good." Graham replied. "Can you tell us what you remember?"

"Well, after school Henry and I got into an argument about skipping rocks." Graham raised his eyebrows, but nodded for me to continue. "Then I stormed off into the woods, and the last thing I did was sit on the toll bridge—"

"The toll bridge?" He asked surprised.

"Well, yeah."

"Hannah," Emma said. She squatted down next to me. "We didn't find you at the toll bridge."

"What?" I asked. "Then where did you find me."

"At the old well." Graham explained.

"Hannah?" Felicity grabbed my hand again. "Was someone else there?" I thought about that. I thought that someone was there, but I didn't want to tell them unless I knew for sure.

"Sorry I can't remember." I said with my head down. I could still feel Emma glaring at me. Finally she stood.

"Well, Hannah, thank you for your time. I hope you start feeling better." She smiled and left.

"Bye, Hannah. Oh, and thanks your help." Graham said. Felicity sighed.

"Hannah I really don't want to leave, but you need to rest, and I have to get back to work." She said. "The Doctor says that you can go home tomorrow if you heal properly. Well, if you heal at all."

_Thanks._ I thought. _That was _very _encouraging._ Felicity smiled, kissed my head, and left.

I jumped up in bed. The last thing I needed was more dreams. I stared at my surroundings. I was extremely disappointed to see that I was still in the hospital. I laid back down and tried to think about what I dreamed last night. I closed my eyes and slipped back into my previous dream.

It was pitch black. I didn't know if I was inside or outside. The ground felt like stone but I could easily grab it like it was dirt. I realized I was sitting down and stood. A huge, bright light flashed. Images floated all around me. I looked at the first one. It was Regina. Well it looked like Regina, but she was different. This Regina gave off a dark energy. She also wore a black dress with a cape that was black with red in the pattern of scales. Her hair was longer and she seemed to be wearing a crown.

"I will destroy your happiness," I jumped when I heard her. The image was moving, and she looked right at me. "If it is the last thing I do." I looked at the next image. There was a man in a leather vest and black pants. His skin was scaly as if he were a reptile.

"All magic comes with a price." He said. I recognized the voice. It was the same one who had been had the toll bridge. Then the image faded, and I forgot what I was thinking. The next image looked like Mary Margaret only she wore a white feathery dress. Her hair was, also, longer.

"She poisoned an apple because she thought I was prettier than her." She was talking to the man next to her, but she seemed to be talking to herself.

_Wow._ I thought. Snow White much? Just then all the images came back and started talking all at once. I woke up again. This time there was a nurse walking up to me.

"I'm sorry, Hannah." She said. "But you can't go home until tomorrow."


	9. Chapter 9

I stared at the food on my tray. There were mashed potatoes, what I _hoped _was meat, and a pile of peas. It was lunch time and I didn't want to be _losing_ my lunch later on. I pushed the tray away.

"No thank you," I stopped and looked at the nurses name tag. "Charlotte." Charlotte had short, red hair that curled up under her chin. She had a sprinkle of freckles across her nose and was wearing your typical nurse uniform.

"Hannah, I'm sorry but you need to eat something." She replied pushing the tray back to me. I stared at the food longer.

"Nah." I decided. "Can I go home now?" I hated the idea of being in the hospital twenty four hours a day.

"No, Hannah. You need to eat something though." She crossed her arms, but not out of anger. "Do you like… grilled cheese?"

"No!" I say in disgust. "It's _melted _cheese on two pieces of bread. Nothing else. Just, cheese, _melted _cheese might I add, and bread."

"Nachos have melted cheese." She argued.

"And _Chips_!"

"Hannah, I'll get you something else if you're not going to eat this-"

"Nope."

"But it has to be simple." I stared at her.

"Chocolate cake." I told Charlotte.

"Hannah, that is nowhere _near_ simple."

"Yeah it is! All you need is flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, eggs, vegetable oil-"

"Hannah."

"Fine, but something other than: broccoli, celery, peas, carrots, corn, zucchini-"

"You know what, how about macaroni and cheese?"

"_Melted_ cheese?"

"Hannah." She glared at me.

"Macaroni it is!" I declared. The last person you want to upset is the person that's going to have sharp tools near your body. She heaved a sigh of relief and went to get the newly requested meal.

I sat in the hospital bed trying to do origami and eat my lunch at the same time. Charlotte came over to take my bowl away.

"That's a great giraffe, Hannah." She complimented. I squinted at my work.

"It's a dolphin." I said. Charlotte's face turned bright red.

"That's what I meant." She said picking up the bowl.

"That's okay. I probably would've done better if I hadn't been trying to eat my macaroni and fold a dolphin at the same time."

"Yeah, probably." She agreed. She started to walk off but turned around and said, "By the way Hannah, did you know that your class is coming here today?" _Why would my class be coming here?_ Then it hit me.

"Oh yeah! I completely forgot about that!" The school was helping with a volunteer outreach program the hospital set up. I silently scolded myself for forgetting I had a chance to interact with kids my age. "Am I allowed to help?" I asked. She smiled.

"That's up to Doctor Whale." She replied honestly.

"Can I go ask him?" I pleaded. She looked at my injured side.

"Alright, I'll come with you." She said. She grabbed my hand and led me to Doctor Whale. "Doctor Whale, Hannah would like to know if she could help her class with the outreach program." Charlotte told him. He nodded thoughtfully.

"I don't see why not." He said at last. "Just be careful. You don't want to reopen your wound."

"Thank you!" I gave him a hug. It kind of hurt but I wasn't going to tell him anything that would change his mind. He stretched out his arms awkwardly and stepped back.

"Your welcome." He replied. He nodded to Charlotte and turned back to the nurse he was talking to. I turned back to Charlotte.

"So when are they coming?" I asked impatiently.

"Just wait, they should be here soon. In the meantime, what do you want to do?"

"Nothing, I guess." I replied.

"Oh, come on!" She said. "We have checkers." I stared at her.

"That's all?"

"No, we have other games."

"Like?"

"Well, we have chess."

"No, how about-"

"Hannah!" Henry ran up to me. "Are you okay?" He asked.

"Um, yeah I'm fine now." I moved aside as Charlotte went to talk to Mary Margaret. "What about you?"

"What happened to you?" he asked ignoring my question. I stared at the ground.

"I don't actually know. After we talked I went to the toll bridge. Everything went dark and I woke up here." I left out the thought that someone else was there too.

"Wow. All I had heard was that you went to the hospital with a gash in your side."

"Well, that too." Just then Mary Margaret walked up to me and Henry.

"Do you guys want to help with the banners?" She asked. Henry and I looked at each other then back at Mary Margaret. I shrugged.

"Why not?"

After the banners and other decorations were done, Charlotte walked up to me.

"Hannah, Emma asked if you could go on a walk with her. I said it was alright if you wanted to."

"Sure!" I was willing to walk with _anyone_ to get out of that hospital. She gestured to Emma standing by the door. I walked up to her. "Ready to go?" I asked impatiently.

"Yeah." She said and led the way out the door. We walked down the street for a while in silence. I cleared my throat.

"Thanks for helping find me." I said. I figured it was sort of lame, but I wanted to break the silence.

"Uh, yeah." She responded. "How's your side?" She asked distantly.

"It's much better now that I'm out of the hospital." She laughed and stopped.

"Hannah, wait here. I'm just going to talk to Mr. Gold for a second." She walked into Mr. Gold's Pawn Shop. I stood there for a second then decided to follow her.

"Emma?" She jumped and turned around.

"Hannah, I thought I told you to stay outside." I looked around the shop. I had never really been in here before. There were lots of really old looking items hanging from the ceiling, stashed on counters and behind glass cases. A man with a suit a cane and gray hair that reached his shoulders walked out from behind one of the counters. Mr. Gold. A wave of nausea hit me like a punch in the gut. I would have fallen on the floor if Emma hadn't caught me.

"Hannah!" She yelled. I felt like I couldn't breathe. I stared at Mr. Gold. He was standing there as if nothing had happened.

"You…." I gasped.

"Hannah?" Emma asked.

"You were the at the toll bridge." I rasped. He moved up to Emma and put his hand on her head. Emma's eyes rolled to the top of her head and she lay down at least I _hoped_ she was sleeping.

"Perhaps I was, dearie." He leaned in close to my face. "But I'm afraid you won't remember that for much longer." He blew something like dust in my face and backed away. My eyelids got heavy and I started to drift into sleep. I looked up at him. His form shifted from the old man at the counter to the man with reptilian skin I had seen in my dreams. The high pitched laugh that filled my dream was endless and told nothing but one thing. Storybrooke was in trouble.


	10. Chapter 10

"Hannah. Hannah, wake up!" Felicity's voice flooded my dreams. "Hannah!" She called again. "You are going to be late for school!" I slightly opened my eyes and started talking half awake.

"It's Saturday, Felicity." I croaked.

"No, it is Friday and you are going to be late for school!" She yanked off my covers. I rolled on my back and opened my eyes all the way. I blinked until I could see felicity clearly.

"I'm too pretty for school." I mumbled.

"Wake up!" I sat up and rubbed my eyes. My side hurt and was bandaged tightly.

"Ok, I hear you. I'm awake."

"Good." She said "Now hurry before we're _both_ late!" She walked out the door. I rolled out of bed and dragged myself to the kitchen.

"How's your side?" Felicity asked putting a bowl of cereal in front of me.

"It's great." I lied. My side still really hurt, but I wasn't about to tell that to anyone. I finished my bowl of cereal and started poking around in the laundry room.

"What are you looking for?" Felicity's voice startled me.

"Um, just my signature outfit." Felicity rolled her eyes. She thought it was childish to have a "Signature outfit" and childish things are not what I need to improve my "Bad grades".

"Hannah the school decided to use school uniforms." She explained.

"Well whose "brilliant" idea was that?" I asked disbelievingly. Instead of answering my question she told me that my clothes would be on my bed.

I went to my room to see what crazy thing the school had cooked up now. There was a collard white shirt with a black that had the school crest on it. There was also a green plaid skirt that came with long, black socks and black shoes. I groaned and put the outfit on careful not to ruin the bandage on my waist. I went back to the kitchen where felicity was waiting for me with my backpack. I grabbed it, hugged Felicity, and ran to the school bus. It hurt to run, but Felicity was watching me so I just ignored the pain.

The bus let me off at the school parking lot and Miss Blanchard was waiting for the students at the entrance to the school. Everyone was wearing the same thing, except the boys wore black pants. It made me sick.

I walked reluctantly into the school. Mary Margaret shut the door and led the students to their classroom. I dropped to the back of the group. The halls seemed longer than ever._ I could just leave. No one's paying attention to me._ I pushed the thought aside. I tried to run away once, and it didn't work very well. _I don't have to run away. Just pretend to stay home because of my side._

I looked around for any way of escape. The tenth graders were heading to their class just across from the room where I normally go. I hopped into their group right as the last of my class went into the room. Then as the tenth graders went into their room, I went down the hall to the water fountain. I took a drink and headed for the door.

"Hey!" A voice sounded from behind me. I froze and braced myself to be chewed out. "Miss Blanchard's class is that way." I turned around to see the school janitor wiping his hands off and walking to me. I searched my brain for an excuse.

"Um, the nurse is sending me home to rest because of my side." I lied.

"Your side, eh?" I had to hold back a laugh at his southern accent. "I don't believe a lick of it." He said. "I've had many students pretend injuries on me." I bit my lip knowing that I was busted. Then I remembered that my side really _was_ hurt. Before I could tell him he asked to see my side. I lifted up my shirt just enough for him to see the bandage. He scratched his bald head embarrassed. "Eh, you wouldn't believe how many of you childs try to lie to me. Go on then." And with that I walked out the door to avoid any further questioning.

I walked to the sheriff's station to see if I could talk to graham. When I walked in I couldn't see Graham at first until I heard him shuffling around under his desk.

"Graham can I talk to you?" I asked. He tried to stand up but hit his head on the desk. He stood up right this time and rubbed where he had hit it.

"Not now, Hannah." He said as he picked up his coffee. He looked more tired than usual. His curly, brown hair was matted and his movements were sloppy. He took a sip of his drink and dropped the cup onto a pile of papers. "No, no, no!" He shouted. The papers ripped as he tried to pick them up. He sat down in his chair and stared at the wall. "All that work ruined." He looked at me. "What?" He practically whispered.

"I… I just wanted to know something…" I felt bad about causing him all that trouble then forgetting what I wanted to ask.

"What?" He said more harshly. I ditched my old question and came up with a new one.

"Are you okay?" He stared at me a little longer.

"No." He answered honestly. He leaned forward in his chair. "Hannah right now I really need your help."

"What is it?" I asked more interested.

"Regina Mills is missing."


	11. Chapter 11

"No." I said in disbelief. "She can't be." Graham looked up from where he was sitting.

"You keep saying that, and each time it's even more true." He said. I stared at him. I put my hands on his desk.

"How long?" I asked him.

"Two days." He replied.

"How?" I practically yelled. The mayor of Storybrooke had missing for two days, and apparently no one had noticed. He started shaking his head.

"How do you think? With lies. Not too many people were curious anyway. A few people asked me where she was, but that's about it." I paced back and forth on the stone floor.

"Who?" I asked.

"What?"

"Who asked you?" He rubbed his head as he tried to remember.

"Mary Margaret, Mr. Gold, and Emma Swan." At the last name slapped the desk. He looked at my hand confused.

"You okay?" He asked me. Thoughts about Emma swam through my head. Most of them were about how much I despised her. I had no idea why. She seemed like a nice person, but there was something in my head that was telling me she couldn't be trusted.

"Hannah?" He asked again.

"No." I replied and added, "Let's go." Without waiting for an answer I walked out of the building and straight to grahams car. Graham ran after me.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" He asked.

"I'm going with you." I answered buckling the seatbelt.

"Hannah, you can help in any way other than coming with me."

"No."

"Hannah, you've got to listen to me. It is too dangerous for you to come along."

"I'm staying." I replied curtly.

"If you're not going to get out of that car, I guess I'm gonna have to take you out."

"You can't." He put his hands on his hips.

"Oh can't I?" He reached over and unbuckled me so quickly I hardly had time to react. By the time I did struggle he was already lifting me out of the car.

"Put me back Graham!" I yelled as he carried me into his office.

"No way." He said dropping me in his chair.

"I want to help!" I said standing up. He started gathering piles of paper off his desk.

"You can help by staying here and helping with any troubles someone might have." He said.

"I'm going with you!" I fumed. And headed to the door to his office.

"If you get in that car the only place you will be going is your mom's house."

"She's not my mom." I said more quietly.

"Hannah I don't want you to get hurt, and I'm pretty sure Felicity feels the same." Reluctantly I sat back down.

"I'll stay here to help." I sighed.

"Thank you." He replied. "If I'm not here by two tell someone."

"That's it?" I asked. "Tell someone" was his big backup plan?

"Sorry, Hannah, I have to go if I want even a chance of finding her." With that he walked out of the room.

I woke up in the forest with my hands tied around a tree. I struggled against the ropes even though I knew it would do no good. If I had my magic back this would not be a problem.

"Well hello, Regina." A voice sound from somewhere in the woods, but my head was too fuzzy to figure out where it came from. I shook my head not allowing any weakness in this situation.

"Who's there?" I called not expecting an answer. "Answer me or I'll -" I was cut off by the same voice.

"Or you'll what?" I now recognized a dark shadow looming in the forest. "It appears to me that you are tied up." I finally recognized the voice. But before I could say anything he limped out of the shadows. I sighed inwardly.

"Oh it's just you, Gold" I said. Mr. Gold didn't move. "Well don't just stand there! Untie me!" I seethed. He limped toward me.

"I don't think I will." He said calmly. I glared at him, but inside I was shocked. In the enchanted forest I had respected him, but now in this new world things were how _I_ wanted them to be.

"I don't beg, Gold. That was an order!" I fumed holding his gaze. He shook his head.

"What's the point in calling me that? You might as well call me by my real name. The name you took away from me!" It took all my effort not to gasp out loud. I stared at him without flinching.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Gold. Now untie me!"

"No, Regina! You know exactly what I'm talking about!" He relaxed and looked into the woods. "My magic has been coming back to me." He slightly laughed. "I thought I would speed up the process. I stared at him. He obviously knew about the curse that had brought all fairytale characters here. He looked back at me. "To do so I need the heart of the one who brought us here. I don't have enough magic to do this properly, but not for long." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a dagger. I struggled against the ropes in vain.

"Gold, don't do this." I ordered in a faint voice.

"Don't call me that!" He yelled suddenly.

"Runplestiltskin, don't do this!" I shouted with more rage than fear. He smiled, satisfied that he had gotten me to call him by his old name.

"Sorry, Dearie." He smirked. "This is how it ends for you."


	12. Chapter 12

I trekked through the woods, making sure to stay well behind Graham. Even though I had promised to stay behind, at the moment I said it, I knew that that wasn't going to happen. _What on earth happened to Regina?_ I re-asked that question over and over again until I got a headache from trying to answer it. The craziest answer I came up with was that she was abducted by alien unicorn-lions that did nothing but eat cheese that was dipped in Jelly and covered with paper sprinkles. Lost in thought, I almost got to close to Graham when he stopped.

"Hannah, I know you're there. Come out." Happy that I didn't have to keep a good distance away from him, I practically sprang forward. "I thought we agreed that you would stay behind and watch my office." He said angrily. "And how did you keep up with my car?" I shrugged.

"I didn't." I explained. "I scanned through the stuff you had on your desk and found the place you were heading. It didn't take that long, actually."

"Well, obviously it didn't since you're here." I looked down and shuffled my feet on the ground. He looked suspiciously at me. "What?"

"I sort of know a shortcut to get here." Graham pointed in the direction we had come.

"Go." He said "You're not coming with me."

"No. I am coming, and there is no way you can stop me." He looked at me sternly.

"Oh, really?" He quickly bent down to pick me up the way he done back at the station, but I stepped to the side and swept his legs out from underneath him. He fell to the ground with a grunt. I smirked.

"Someone once told me to never make the same mistake twice." I gasped. "Graham, are you ok?" Graham rolled over.

"What was that about?" He asked. I shook my head.

"I have no idea, but I'm so sorry. It's like someone had taken over me." I realized that I wasn't telling him a lie. It _was_ like someone had taken over me, and I couldn't have done anything to stop it. I thought that something like that would have scared me, but it only surprised me and made me curious. "I wonder if it will happen again."

"Let's hope it doesn't." He said getting up. My eye caught something black far up the way Graham was heading.

"What's that?" I asked running toward the black object.

"Hannah!" He said taking off after me. I had started running before him, so I reached whatever it was first. Graham showed up almost immediately after. I picked it up. "Hannah, you are _not_ coming!" I glared at him.

"We don't have time to argue!" I snapped. "Look. It's a scarf." Graham took it away from me.

"Not just any scarf. It's Regina's." He looked around until he finally looked to that left and said, "This way." I followed him without saying anything. "If you want to come, Hannah, then keep up!" He yelled over his shoulder. I picked up my pace and almost ran into Graham when he stopped abruptly.

"Regina!" I yelled. The mayor was tied up to a thick tree in a way that couldn't be comfortable. Her eyes were full of hatred even though I sensed fear there too. There was a man standing there with a dagger in his hand.

"Hey!" Graham yelled at him. The man looked away from Regina and snarled showing some of his teeth which were made of gold. He looked back at Regina.

"You got lucky this time, your majesty." He scowled. "But I _will _have your heart!" Again, something that should have scared me, but I accepted without flinching. With a wave of his hand, he was gone in a cloud of black and purple.

Graham reached into his pocket, pulled out a pocket knife and started cutting the ropes that held Regina to the tree. Regina spoke for the first time.

"Excellent timing, Sheriff." She said. "But I'm a bit appalled that you would bring a child into your business." She said looking at Hannah. Surprisingly, she didn't look sad. In fact, the only emotion that I could see was annoyance.

"Why did he call you your majesty?" I asked ignoring her question. Regina sucked in her cheeks.

"As you can tell, though annoying," He said shooting a glare at me. "Hannah is very observant." Regina looked back at Graham ignoring my question.

"That doesn't sound like a good reason to bring her here with you." She retorted. Graham crossed his arms.

"I didn't bring her along." He explained. "She _followed_ me."

"What kind of sheriff are you if you can't keep a 12 year old from following you?" She scolded. I watched them argue with a smile on my face. Graham unfolded his arms and put them in his pockets.

"Miss Mills, I think you're a bit shaken up. Why don't we get you to your house and let you rest." He suggested.

"Rest? Rest is the last thing I need right now. We have to get Rumplestil- Mr. Gold. That man is a crook, and I will _not_ let him walk around my town!" She said with a hint of desperation in her voice.

"Please?" He said slightly nodding at me. Regina looked at me, then back at Graham.

"Fine." She grumbled reluctantly.

"What?" I asked. "There are still a lot of thing to figure out! And Mr. Gold said he wanted her heart. He's trying to kill her. There's gotta be something we can do." Graham shook his head. Then looked at me his eyes huge.

"Hannah, what did you do?" He yelled. He bent down and lightly touched my side. I looked down to my school uniform soaked with blood where I had cut my side.

"Great, this was new. Felicity is going to kill me." I said. Somehow Regina had bent down next to Graham without me noticing.

"Doesn't that hurt at all?" She asked shocked. Suddenly It _did_ hurt and I fell on my knees.

"I have got to stop hurting myself." I groaned. Graham picked me up carefully avoiding my side.

"Come on." He said running as fast as he could without hurting me. "We've got to get her to the hospital. Again."


	13. Chapter 13

I lied down on a hospital bed staring up at the ceiling, once again, having nothing to do. I rolled my eyes multiple times and sighed. Eventually I got bored enough to play chess with a patient named Cole who had fallen down stairs. He was probably in his early twenties with brown hair. I randomly moved my pieces to the places he said I could move them. He offered many times to actually teach me how to play put I didn't really want know how.

"You can move here." He offered. He pointed to the spot and then a few others. "Or here, here or here." I looked at the spots he pointed to and moved the horse piece to wherever my fingers went first. He immediately moved a piece to replace the horse and put it in line with the other pieces he'd caught.

"You tricked me." I said. He shook his head.

"No I didn't." He moved the pieces back to where they were and demonstrated. "You could've moved you knight here-"

"The horse is called a knight?" _I really have no idea how to play this._ He squinted at me.

"Yes, and you could've moved it here leaving me only one space here. Then you could have moved your queen here and captured my queen." I stared blankly at the board without actually registering what he was saying.

"And that's good?" I asked. He laughed and nodded.

"Yes." He explained. I shrugged.

"Okay, then I want to do that instead."

"You can't change your move."

"Why not?" He breathed in and looked at the board then slowly he nodded.

"Fine if you really feel like you want to go there instead." He said. I nodded and he left the pieces the way he moved when he was demonstrating it. "You sure?" He asked.

"Yeah, why not?" I replied. He smirked.

"Because." He moved his pointed piece near my king. I looked at him then back at the board.

"I don't get it." I said. He laughed again.

"I just won." He said. I rolled my eyes not understanding a thing about chess. He blow out and ran his fingers through his hair revealing a stitched spot that I hadn't noticed before. "Well you didn't really know how to play anyway."

"No, and I don't plan to know any time soon." I helped him pack up the chess board as Charlotte walked up to me. "Let me guess. I have to stay here for tonight." She smiled.

"No, you can go home as soon as you mothe- uh Felicity comes to get you. Just take this," She handed me a bottle of medicine, "Once a day. And make sure you rest. And light work only, if at all." She noticed Cole and offered to put the board back. He handed it over and Charlotte walked away.

"I have to stay here today and tomorrow then they'll let me go." Cole explained. I looked at him shocked.

"How long have you been here?" I asked him.

"Two days. They would have let me go home yesterday but I did more than break my leg." He said.

"You broke your leg?" I asked.

"Didn't I tell you that?"

"We haven't been playing for _that_ long." I pointed out. "Well, bye." I said and headed toward the door.

"Whoa, where are you going?" He asked. I shrugged.

"Home." I said.

"Doesn't your mom have to pick you up?" He said putting his hand in front of me. I pushed his hand away.

"No." I replied. He looked at me suspiciously. I walked through the door and back to the house. Just the look at the colorless walls made me want to get out of there. And that's exactly what I did. I walked around a bit trying to decide where to go. I didn't have very long until the numbness wore off. I was _going_ to walk to the sheriff station but I didn't think Graham would be too happy to see me. I walked to Henry's castle and sat there for a while until Henry walked up to me.

"Hi." He said as he climbed up to sit next to me.

"Hey." I said. "Where's your mom?" I asked. He recoiled a bit. I forgot that Henry didn't really like talking about Regina. But the question was out there and I couldn't take it back.

"She had to go take care of business." I looked at him suspiciously.

"So are you sure she's the evil queen?" I asked him. He nodded and took his backpack off.

"I'm positive." He got the book out and flipped through the first pages until he saw a picture of the evil queen. The thing was. It _did_ look a lot like Regina. _What am I thinking? This is crazy!_ I nodded.

"Then who are you?" I asked.

"Oh I'm not in here because I was born here." My side started to hurt a bit but I was curious.

"So they stopped writing after the curse?" Henry nodded. My head was spinning. This was all just a bunch of hooey. How did Henry even think this all up? Something told me it was a mystery no one would be able to solve.

..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._

Rumpelstiltskin had just finished destroying a flock of sheep and was ready to move onto terrorizing -and possibly killing- a village. With a wave of his hand he disappeared. I saw my chance and put down the mirror I was looking at to see him. I quickly picked up the bag of supplies. I figured it was now or never. I opened up the door of his castle and stepped outside. I had always thought that he had set magic here to know if I had escaped but he didn't suddenly show up to stop me. I took that as an okay sign to keep walking and that's what I did. Walking at first but then running as I got more confident he hadn't noticed. I shot backward as if I was being pulled. My hands were chained together, as well as my feet. One they linked together to form on collar for my neck. Rumpelstiltskin had found me.

"I'm glad to see your ready for another trip to the village, but I think I like you better in chains." He said giving the chain a hard yank to get me on my feet. My whole body was being pulled back and up again. He purposely let go before I could stand up all the way sending me falling back to the ground. Pain shot through my lip and I tasted blood. "Unfortunately, we'll have to take a detour to another place." I slowly got to my feet accompanied by another yank on the chains. There was a rustling in the forest. Rumpelstiltskin used magic to tie me to a tree as a woman walked up to him.

"Hello Rumpelstiltskin." She said. Even though she used polite words her voice was full of the same untrustworthy and evil voice as Rumpelstiltskin's even though they were different.

"I have no business for you today, Cora." He said referring to the "favor" Cora owed him. I silently struggled against the chains intent on listening to the conversation.

"No, but I have business for you." She said matter-of-factly. "I need your help with my daughter. She doesn't understand that I'm trying to do what's best for her and I don't have a spell that will _help_ her understand."

"Even if I _did_ want to help, that's not how my deals work." Rumpelstiltskin answered.

"I don't need anything but a spell. If you could just-"

"No." Rumpelstiltskin interrupted. "Don't come back to me until I need that favor." He said getting ready to free me from the tree. When Cora didn't move Rumpelstiltskin turned around. "I would go now if I were you. I don't think you want Regina knowing you have a granddaughter." He used magic and Cora was gone in an instant. "Come along, Dearie." He said undoing the chain around the tree. "We've got somewhere to be."

**Okay so just to avoid confusion, yes in that last part the character is supposed to be anonymous. Hope you guys liked this chapter! Sorry you had to wait so long for it.**


	14. Chapter 14

I sat down on the pathetic couch in Felicity's house just as she had told me to. She paced back and forth and hands fidgeting. She was extremely worried, and frankly, so was I. I shifted uncomfortably. Felicity had been crying.

"I just…" She said holding back a sob. She had said this twice now, never really being able to spit the sentence out. I was still worried but I was also getting annoyed. Why couldn't she just tell me?

"Felicity-" I started.

"No, um, Hannah I will tell you, but I can't." She sucked in a deep breath. She crouched down so she was on my level. "Hannah, I can't keep looking after you." It felt like someone had thrown a bowling ball at my stomach. I stared at her trying to comprehend what she was saying. "I just can't afford it." She said more but I couldn't seem to pay attention. She cried and apologized but it all seemed to slide away. When I finally said something it came out as a squeak.

"You can't." I couldn't yell. I couldn't do anything. Felicity grabbed my hand. She seemed to stop crying for now. I wanted to yell at her. Punch her. Do _something_ to her, but my mind wouldn't let me.

"I know." She said. "You're really not of age. That's why I'm just taking you to-"

"Another orphanage." I finished. She nodded. "I guess I had better go pack." I spoke in an amazing calm voice considering the thousands of anger little butterflies flying around my ear telling me to demolish her. The next few hours were just a big blur. I don't even remember saying bye to anyone. It was all just time passing by quickly and me sluggishly moving around. I rode in the back seat of Felicity's car and, believe it or not, slept the whole way.

"Hannah?" I woke up to the sound of a strange woman's voice. I saw a short lady with white hair braided around her head. She wore a long black dress and had a veil falling down her back. "Hi. I'm Miss Dulch." Her voice was cracked with age. I sat up and got out of the car trying not to hurt my side.

"Miss Dulch is in charge of the Arms of Love Orphanage, Hannah." Felicity explained. Extremely disappointed, I shook Miss Dulch's hand. After falling asleep I had hoped that it was all a crazy dream and I was back in Storybrooke.

"Normally we don't take in new children when the building is so crowded, but the next orphanage is about a ten hour drive from here. We wouldn't want you driving all night, Felicity," I stood there in silence while Felicity talked to Miss Dulch. My head was spinning and my mind was empty. I had heard about this before. You don't usually react until something happens that makes you unable to deny the reality. Felicity gave me a little push towards Miss Dulch.

"Hannah, Miss Dulch is waiting for you." She said, tears running down her face again. I walked slowly toward what would be my new home. Miss Dulch reached out to grab my hand, but I pulled it away. I didn't know why. Her hand looked worn and bony. Felicity waved goodbye and drove away.

As soon as we were inside I noticed the kids. They were everywhere. All the boys were snickering and the girls stared me up and down like they were deciding if I would be better with or without my arms. They were all caked in what I absolutely hoped was mud. Around the mass of children I was able to make out a circular room with archways branching off into different halls. The place was really clean and organized, contradicting the children. There was one lonely painting sitting on a very lonely wall. It looked like tiny cherub babies killing tiny gargoyle babies. A disturbing painting really.

"Children," Miss Dulch announced. "This is Hannah. I want you all to treat her like family." She said. The children looked at one another smirking.

"Yes, Miss Dulch." They all said in unison. She seemed satisfied with that and disappeared down one of the many halls.

"Hadley, why don't you go show Hannah where she'll be sleeping." She requested through a speaker hidden from view. A little girl with messy, blonde braids walked forward. She had had a weird glint in her eyes. _Felicity, what did you get me into? _I thought.

"Yes, Miss Dulch." She grabbed me by the arm in a death grip and pulled me into a surprisingly clean room. A boy who looked just a little older than me stood on a bed to get the other children's attention.

"Well, we all heard Miss Dulch. Treat the girl liked family!" The kids cheered showing there pearly white teeth that clashed with their mud streaked faces. I freaked out and tried to go find Miss Dulch. The little girl pushed me back to my spot and two boys guarded the door. I knew I wasn't going to get out of this. I scanned the room for windows. Of course, there were none. All I could see other than beds was a bookcase.

"Why are you trying to leave?" The boy on the bed asked me. I stared at him.

"Well maybe it has something to do with you trapping me in a room with those creepy looks on your faces!" I don't know where my voice came from. I thought I had left it back at Storybrooke. The boy laughed.

"Don't worry. George wanted to run too." He explained. Everyone turned their attention to a boy who looked down in shame. "So do you want a necklace or a bracelet?" He asked me. The question caught me a bit off guard. Here was this boy with his gang of munchkins offering me jewelry. "Come on! Which one?"

"Necklace?" I responded. All of the kids turned extremely wide eyed. I had no idea what was going on. The kid I assumed was George tapped the boy on the bed.

"Frank, we can't give her the necklace." He argued. "She's hurt already."

"Just like you, she got to decide." Frank said jumping off the bed.

"At least explain what the difference is." George pleaded. Frank looked at me then at all of the other kids.

"Fine, I'll put it this way." He said putting his hands in his pockets. "Would you rather be practically strangled to death or have a third degree burn on your arm?" I stood there shocked. He asked it as simply as he would ask me what color shirt I wanted to wear for the day.

"Neither!" I yelled. Just then there was a scratching noise coming from outside. All of the children ran to the bookcase in the corner of the room and pushed it over revealing a window. I saw my chance and ran for the door. The children didn't even respond. They were just talking to the window like someone was there. I had only made it to the front of the building when I heard them holler- in their creepy unison way- "She's running, Miss Dulch!" _Yeah, I seem to do that a lot._ I kept at it. I didn't think that she would be able to catch me since she was all the way down a hall.

I heard the door slam against the outside of the orphanage indicating that she was chasing me now. Instead of hearing her running behind me I heard a strange noise above me. It sounded like drums were scraping their nails against stone. (Assuming that these particular drums had nails) Something inside me told me to look up. There was a huge stone creature flying above me. It had over-grown teeth on what looked like a dragon head. It looked like a lion had sprouted a dragon head and wings then looked at Medusa. I screamed and impossibly ran faster. The adrenaline pumping through my veins would eventually wear off and it would be over. I kept running anyway. It dove toward me and knocked me to the ground. The wind was knocked out of me, but that seemed minor compared to the stone lion-dragon about to tear me to shreds. I closed my eyes and waited. After a while I opened my eyes and saw the creature sitting on me triumphantly.

"Let us make one thing clear!" It hissed. When I say hissed, I mean it literally hissed. It sounded like twenty possessed snakes attacking a lion. The roar of pain included. "No one runs from Miss Dulch. If you are caught running from Miss Dulch, I will kill you. If you do not obey Miss Dulch's rules I will kill you. Miss Dulch does not except misbehavior. Miss Dulch is waiting for you." It scooped me up with its massive claws and. Flying low, took me back to the orphanage. I didn't dare struggle assuming it would kill me if I did. It pushed me in the door then climbed in through a hatch on the roof. I couldn't believe I hadn't noticed that before.

"That didn't work out now did it?" Frank smirked. The stone thing behind me glared at him. "You're no fun Aerolith." He said acting like it was normal to see a 3 ton part dragon, part lion made out of stone. He walked back to the room where I heard loud laughter.

"Miss Dulch is down the hall to the left of the painting. Proceed down the hall to see Miss Dulch." As I walked down the hall I realized I had never hated a name so much in my life.


	15. Chapter 15

Once I reached the end of the hall, I knocked on the door not really wanting an answer. I got one anyway.

"Come in." Miss Dulch called. And if I don't your pet gargoyle will kill me? I opened the door and walked inside. The room was bigger than I had expected. She was sitting behind an old looking desk that had two old looking chairs. That was it. There was no other furniture in the room.

"Please sit down." She gestured for me to do so. I sat down reluctantly. She kept staring at me which made me entirely uncomfortable. We sat there in silence for a while until Miss Dulch spoke up.

"How's your side?" She asked. There it was. Another question that caught me completely off guard. I assumed Felicity had told her everything about everything. Why would she care though? I reached down to my side. It didn't hurt at all, but I was sure it was bleeding. I looked down expecting to see blood all over my clothes. There wasn't any. I quickly lifted my shirt and unwrapped the bandage. It was absolutely amazing! All that was left of the gash in my side was a scar to remember it by. Miss Dulch leaned over the desk.

"Ah, good. The magic is working." She said. I quickly pulled my shirt down. Magic? I'm healed because of magic? It didn't make any sense. Especially since Henry had always treated magic like a bad thing. But it couldn't be! It just healed me without me asking. And I hadn't even said thank you! _Thanks?_

"Last time Shelly trusted the healing magic she lost three fingers." She told me casually. I was freaking out entirely. I wanted to bolt for the door, but that didn't seem to work out so well last time. Who is Shelly, and what had she done to her fingers?

"How long am I going to stay here?" I asked. There were so many other things I could've asked just then: You can do magic? What's that gargoyle thing? What have you done to those kids? Who is Shelly and what had she done to her fingers? But what I did ask showed all too much that I had given up.

"Nobody ever leaves here," she cackled. "Unless you fancy suicide. Don't worry. You'll learn to love it here." I thought about the kids, probably still laughing in their room. They did seem to enjoy it here. Yeah, because this is the only place they can murder and get away with it!

"I will never enjoy being trapped in a house full of psychotic children!" I yelled. Miss Dulch shook her head.

"Oh dear, it appears we have one that will not cooperate." She announced. Just as she had, the gargoyle-whose name, I'm guessing, is Aerolith-dropped in through another hatch in the roof. Note to self: Don't forget to look up.

"Aerolith." She said. "Take her to her room please." She turned to me. "We will allow you to have access to the library, but that is all." Aerolith grabbed me once again and carried me out through the hatch. He took me to another building that looked like an observatory without the telescope. It was alone in the woods and was entirely black, blending in with the night sky. Why didn't he just leave me in the room where all the other kids were? He dropped in yet another hatch and set me down. The room was entirely white making Aerolith stand out like a peacock in a crowd of chickens.

"The library is in there." He pointed at a small door. Before I could turn around, he was gone. I looked around the room, but everything blended together. I managed to find a door with no handles. I ran to it and started pushing as hard as I could. I looked closer at the door and noticed a "Pull" sign. But there's no handle! I screamed in my head. I thought about Storybrooke and how I would've given anything to be there right now. I slumped to a small white bed in the middle of the room. What if I hadn't run away? Would I be here now? That's when it happened. Laying there on the cold bed seemed to be more real than anything. I felt my side for once hoping that it would be hurt. Of course it wasn't. I curled into a ball and slowly cried myself to sleep.

Nothing like a weird dream to follow an even weirder day, right? I stood on a straw covered pavement. In front of me was a lot of greenery but nothing else. Why hadn't my mind taken me somewhere useful? I knew very well that I couldn't move in these dreams. I heard voices and laughter behind. I tried to move anyway. Ended up spinning in a full 360 degree circle and facing right where I was before. I tried to slowly turn around this time. It worked but it was like I was sitting in a spinning chair. Except I wasn't sitting and there was definitely no chair. There were three ladies in fancy dresses walking toward a carriage. I almost didn't notice girl in rags pointlessly sweeping away at the hay. I decided to try walking. It surprisingly worked. I tried to get in the carriage with them remembering that nobody could see or hear me. I got in, but the carriage pulled away leaving me in the exact same spot.

"Do not despair, my dear, you will attend that ball." I heard behind me. I spun around twice before I located the voice. There was a small person flying in front of the sweeping girl.

"Who are you?" She asked. I was glad she asked my question for me. The fairy didn't respond right away. Instead she grew in size and folded her wings out of view. She had dark skin with curly black hair and wore a big, orange dress.

"I'm your fairy godmother, and I am here to change your life, Cinderella." She replied. I came to the slightly obvious realization that this was the story of Cinderella that Mary Margaret had read to the class a while ago.

"But…," Cinderella started. "My stepmother said that I couldn't go. She forbade me to leave." She explained sadly. I sat down and decided to just enjoy the show. All I needed was some popcorn. The fairy godmother slightly rolled her eyes.

"Your stepmother doesn't have this." She claimed holding up a stick. Sorry not a stick. Unless sticks sparkle and glow. This was a wand as orange as the fairy's dress. She waved it around a bit.

"This wand has the power to take you to your ball," she said taunting Cinderella with the wand. "To your prince, and to a-"She was cut short by herself exploding. I fell backwards in surprise. That had never happened in the books Mary Margaret read. I sat up as quickly as I could. All that was left of her was her wand. Cinderella looked at the now empty space in front of her, terrified.

"What did you do?" She asked…me? No it couldn't have been me. I looked again at the spot where the fairy had been. There was a man there all of a sudden. Just in the blink of an eye he was there. He bent over and picked up the wand.

"Now, now." He said comfortingly. "I got what I wanted." He had a really weird high pitched voice that almost seemed familiar. "There's no need to be frightened."

"No need?" Cinderella said breathlessly. "You just murdered my fairy godmother!" She had gained her voice back now. I would have to, but I didn't have one to begin with. "She was trying to help me.

"Was she?" He said not wiping the smile from his face. The feeling that I had seen him before was killing me. I walked closer to him. He had shiny leathery skin resembling a lizard's.

"Do you know what this is?" He sang. Waving the wand like the fairy had.

"Pure magic." Cinderella said in awe. The man slightly shook his head.

"Pure evil." He corrected. Where was this coming from? I know that this wasn't in the book. "Trust me. I've done you a favor." Then a litter more cheerfully. "All magic comes at a price." I thought about for a little bit. What price would I have to pay for the magic that healed my side

"Go on back to your life," he instructed. I hadn't seen him frown yet. It was extremely creepy. "And thank your lucky stars you've got something to go back to."

"My life is wretched." She replied with anger in her eyes. The man leaned in closer.

"Then change it." I woke with a start. I hated those dreams. They were usually based off of fairytales but had weird twists to them. I walked to the door that apparently had a library behind it. I opened the door to find a single bookshelf with old books on it. I sighed. If this was going to be my only entertainment for a while, I might as well start reading now.


	16. Chapter 16

I opened up the door Aerolith had said was the library. There was a single bookshelf that was about waist high. It had three books on it, all super dusty and old looking. So much for library. I picked up the thinnest one I could find and started to read it. It was like a demented version of Pinochio.

There was this really handsome guy who got the girl of his dreams. He found out she was cheating on him and said he would cut off her nose if she lied to him again. She left again but didn't come back. So the guy started cutting off every body's noses off until another woman begged him to spare her. He didn't listen to her blinded by anger, and she turned him into a tree.

After that I started getting a headache. I put down the book and closed my eyes. A few tears streamed down my face but I didn't try to stop them. I figured I would be crying a lot or toughen up and the first one seemed more likely. The headache got worse until I couldn't stand it anymore. I stood up and started walking in circles while banging on my head like it just needed to be punched into feeling better. I yelled but it only made it worse.

"Hannah?" There was a muffled voice coming from outside the door. The headache! Of course how could I have forgotten? Instead of trying to get rid of it I tried to figure out where it was. It was currently in the back of my head but when I turned around it was in my forehead. It acted weirdly like a compass. I ran to the door.

"I'm in here!" I yelled. Had Felicity come back already? I started to pound on the door. "There's no handle!"

"There's isn't one out here either." I couldn't recognize the voice very well, but I didn't care. "How did you get in?" I assumed I didn't have time to explain so I gave her the short version.

"There's a hatch on the roof, but you won't be able to get up there." I said desperately. No reply. I put my ear to the door. Still nothing. "Hello?" You called.

"How far is the drop?" I heard the voice above me. I jumped back and looked up. She wasn't there, but I could hear her. How did she get up there?

"Uh… Far." I responded. I could've sworn I heard her huff up there.

"Is there anything soft to land on?" She questioned. I thought of the bed, but how heavy was it?

"Maybe, just hold on!" I ran over to it and started pushing. The bed creaked and groaned, but finally budged. It made a horrible scraping sound as it slid across the floor, leaving scuff marks all over it. I eventually got it aimed under the hatch and called for whoever was above the hatch to come down. _It's a trap!_ I thought too late. I was wrong. Falling through the hatch, came Emma Swan. Her blonde hair was in soggy tangles and her clothes were torn and soaked. She stood up, balanced herself on the bed, then jumped off. She was covered in sand.

"Are you ok?" She asked breathing heavily. Really universe? You could've sent anyone else here, but you had to choose Emma.

"Emma!" There was another voice from outside. "What happened?" It was definitely Graham. That's a little better, Universe.

"I'm fine! What's the plan now?" She called.

"Uh we have rope!" He answered.

"Then why didn't we use that in the first place?" Emma scolded.

"Well sorry I thought we lost it at sea!" Lost it at sea? Was that some kind of weird expression I've never heard of? Emma walked up to me and bent down.

"Hannah, I need you to you to grab the rope. Graham is out there, and he's going to pull you up." I balled my fists and nodded. It was weird that I felt like this around her. All she's done since she met me is help. The rope landed roughly on the bed. There was a big rock tied to the end of it. She picked it up, and untied it. She started wrapping it around my waist, but stopped suddenly.

"What is it?" I asked alarmed.

"I need to wrap this around you where you're not hurt." She said. It was probably just me but I thought I saw her look at my neck and I instinctively gulped.

"It's fine." I said. "It's actually better now." I lifted up my shirt to show her. She ran her hand across the scar.

"Oh my... That's freaky." She whispered. She continued wrapping the rope around me. When she had secured it with a strong knot she made me stand on the bed. "Pull Hannah up, Graham!" I felt a tug on the rope, and I started rising toward the ceiling.

"What about you?" I asked Emma. I decided to push aside that feeling and maybe try to be friends? I was almost to the hatch.

"Graham knows what to do." she said.

"Ow." I said calmly but loud enough for Graham to hear. I put my fingers in the small space the rope was making and pulled the door down towards me. I held it down with my feet until Graham pulled me out fully. I was on the top of the domed roof struggling for a foot hold.

"Hannah, let go, and I'll catch you!" Graham said. I considered it but the drop was making me dizzy. I've tried to convince myself I wasn't scared of heights, but it never seemed to work. Now I was on this 2-story tall half-circle with someone telling me to plunge to my death! I was terrified.

"Hannah!" He repeated. I wanted to look at him, determine where he was, or even tell him to just leave me there.

"We've got to get off this island!" He called urgently. Island? I stupidly looked over the dome to see what he was talking about. My stomach did a flip and my grip tightened around the small bump next to the hatch. In my worry about falling, I managed to completely ignore the fact that it was light outside. Had I read that disgusting book all night? Unexpectedly the rope yanked me away from my little spot from the roof. I screamed until I felt myself hit something.

"Don't scream." He said while putting his grimy hand over my mouth. I nodded and he set me down. I looked around in shock. Graham wasn't lying about it being an island. We were standing on a beach right next to the ocean. The sand was orange and had rocks strewn across it in every direction. Graham was about to tie another rock to the rope but Emma came around the corner. We both jumped back in surprise.

"How'd you get out?" I asked. I actually felt relieved to see her which was a double-surprise.

"The door handle." She replied. What kind of joke was that?

"Yeah right, there wasn't one." She shrugged.

"It just appeared." She claimed. "It probably shifts like this twisted place." She trudged over in her wet clothes. I looked over and realized Graham was drenched too. It looked like they had swum all the way here then rolled in the sand.

"Let's go." Graham decided. We nodded and loaded up on a small boat that was tied around a rock. When we had the boat in the water Graham and Emma started explaining what had happened.

"Felicity forgot to give you your medicine so Graham volunteered to take it to you." Emma said. I looked at Graham.

"Who is the sheriff while you were gone?" I asked.

"Me." Emma said almost a little too happily. I looked from Emma to Graham and back again.

"But you're here now. Who's sheriff in Storybrooke?" Graham shrugged.

"Archie Hopper." He said. I stared at him. Doctor Archie Hopper was a psychiatrist in Storybrooke. I didn't think he would be a good choice unless Archie could set a criminal down and make them cry and wail for their mommies.

"That's just…Wrong!" I yelled. "It only takes one of you to give me medicine! Why are you both here? You could've waited until the next day!" Emma was giving me an are-you-done-pointing-out-all-we-could've-done look.

"No, we couldn't have waited any longer, Hannah." Graham said. "We didn't know what would happen to you." Even though that place was creepy and will probably haunt me for the rest of my days, it seemed really stupid that anybody would worry about me being in an orphanage. I looked at the island that was fading away.

"How did the orphanage get there?" I asked. Emma's eyes lit up.

"Apparently that's just what happens after a while. That particular orphanage moves." She explained.

"How long is a while?" I asked.

"You don't know how long you were in there?" Graham questioned. I shrugged.

"I guess a few hours?" Emma and Graham exchanged a glance. Graham somehow leaned closer.

"Hannah." He said cautiously. "You've been gone for two weeks."


End file.
